Abstract
This study proposes a model of administrative job satisfaction and tests the model using a database of almost 1,200 managers at 120 public and private universities. The robust model explains 54% of the variance in overall administrative job satisfaction. The results indicate that few state, campus, and personal characteristics exert direct effects on one's overall job satisfaction. Rather, these exogenous organizational and personal variables exert small but statistically significant effects on the administrative work climates. These immediate work climates, in turn, have more powerful impacts on the various components of job satisfaction.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Aldrich, H. E. (1979). Organizations and Environments, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Austin, E. A. (1985). Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction of University Mid-Level Administrators. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No: 259626)
Austin, A. E., and Gamson, Z. F. (1983). Academic workplace: New demands, heightened tensions, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 10, The George Washington University, Washington DC.
Bamundo, P. J., and Kopelman, R. E. (1980). The moderating effects of occupation, age and urbanization on the relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. J. Vocat. Behav. 17: 100–123.
Bauer, K. W. (ed.) (1998). Campus climate: Understanding the critical components of today's colleges and universities, New Directions for Institutional Research, No. 98, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 1–104.
Bensimon, E. M., and Neumann, A. (1993). Redesigning Collegiate Leadership: Teams and Teamwork in Higher Education, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Berwick, K. R. (1992). Stress among student affairs administrators: The relationship of personal characteristics and organizational variables to work related stress. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 33: 11–19.
Birnbaum, R. (1988). How Colleges Work, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Blau, G. (1993). Further exploring the relationship between job search and voluntary individual turnover. Pers. Psychol. 46: 313–330.
Blix, A. G., and Lee, J. W. (1991). Occupational stress among university administrators. Res. Higher Educ. 32: 289–302.
Boone, C. W. (1987). The relationship between job characteristics, role conflict, role ambiguity, internal locus of control, and job satisfaction of college and university administrators. Dis. Abstr. Int. 47: 2676.
Bruce, W. L., and Blackburn, J. W. (1992). Balancing Job Satisfaction & Performance. Quorum Books, New Haven, CT.
Cameron, K. S. (1978). Measuring organizational effectiveness in institutions of higher education. Adm. Sci. Q. 23: 604–629.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1994). Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Cotton, J. L., and Tuttle, J. M. (1986). Employee turnover: A meta-analysis and review with implications for research. Acad. Manage. Rev. 11: 55–70.
Etzioni, A. (1964). Modern Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Fife, J. D. (1992). Foreward. In: Tack, M. W., and Patitu, C. L., Faculty Job Satisfaction: Women and Minorities in Peril, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report Four, George Washington University. Washington, DC, pp. xvii–xviii.
Glick, L. N. (1992). Job satisfaction among academic administrators. Res. Higher Educ. 33: 625–639.
Gmelch, W. H., Lovrich, N. P., and Wilke, P. K. (1984). Sources of stress in academe: A national perspective. Res. Higher Educ. 20: 477–490.
Graham, H. D., and Diamond, N. (1996). The Rise of American Research Universities: Elites and Challengers in the Postwar Era, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Hackman, J. R., and Lawler, E. E. (1971). Employee reactions to job characteristics. J. Appl. Psychol. 55: 259–286.
Hagedorn, L. S. (1994). Retirement proximity's role in the prediction of satisfaction in academe. Res. Higher Educ. 35: 711–728.
Hagedorn, L. S. (1996). Wage equity and female faculty job satisfaction: The role of wage differentials in a job satisfaction causal model. Res. Higher Educ. 37: 569–598.
Hagedorn, L. S. (2000). What contributes to job satisfaction among faculty and staff, New Directions for Institutional Research No. 105, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Hall, R. H. (1995). Organizations: Structures, Processes, and Outcomes (4th Ed.), Prentice Hall, Englewood Clifffs, NJ.
Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the Nature of Man, The World Publishing Company, New York.
Hollon, C., and Gemmill, G. (1976). A comparison of female and male professors on participation in decision making, job-related tension, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Educ. Adm. Q. 12: 80–93.
Hoppock, R. (1977). Job Satisfaction, Arno Press, New York.
Johnsrud, L. K. (2002). Measuring the quality of faculty and administrative worklife: Implications for colleges and university campuses. Res. Higher Educ. 43: 379–395.
Johnsrud, L. K., Heck, R. H., and Rosser, V. J. (2000). Morale matters: Midlevel administrators and their intent to leave. J. Higher Educ. 71: 34–59.
Johnsrud, L. K., and Rosser, V. J. (1999). College and university midlevel administrators: Explaining and improving their morale. Rev. Higher Educ. 22: 121–141.
Kalleberg, A. L. (1977). Work values and job rewards: A theory of job satisfaction. Am. Sociol. Rev. 42: 124–143.
Kanter, R. M. (1977). Men and Women of the Corporation, Basic Books, New York.
Lawler, E. E. (1986). High Involvement Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Lawrence, P. R., and Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Organization and Environment, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Lee, R., and Wilbur, R. E. (1985). Age, education, job tenure, salary, job characteristics, and job satisfaction: A multi-variate analysis. Hum. Relat. 38: 781–791.
Martin, J. K., and Shehan, C. L. (1989). Education and job satisfaction: The influences of gender, wage-earning status, and job values. Work Occup.: Int. Sociol. J. 16: 184–199.
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (1996). Framework for Outcomes Assessment, Commission on Higher Education, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Philadelphia.
Mintzberg, H. (1979). The Structuring of Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Mumford, E. (1972). Job Satisfaction: A Study of Computer Specialists, Longman, London.
National Research Council (1995). Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Olsen, D. (1993). Work satisfaction and stress in the first and third year academic appointment. J. Higher Educ. 64: 453–471.
Pfeffer, J., and Salancik, G. R. (1978). The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective, Harper and Row, New York.
Rigg, M. (1992). Increased personal control equals increased individual satisfaction. Ind. Eng. 24(2): 12–13.
Smart, J. C. (1990). A causal model of faculty turnover intentions. Res. Higher Educ. 31: 405–424.
Smart, J. C., and Morstain, B. R. (1975). Assessement of job satisfaction among college administrators. Res. Higher Educ. 3: 1–9.
Smith, E., Anderson, J. L., and Lovrich, N. P. (1995). The multiple sources of workplace stress among land-grant university faculty. Res. Higher Educ. 36: 261–282.
Solomon, L. C., and Tierney, M. L. (1977). Determinants of job satisfaction among college administrators. J. Higher Educ. 48: 412–431.
Spector, P. E. (1997). Job Satisfaction: Application, Assessment, Cause, and Consequences, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Sullivan, S. E., and Bhagat, R. S. (1992). Organizational stress, job satisfaction and job performance. J. Manage. 18: 353–374.
Tack, M. W., and Patitu, C. L. (1992). Faculty Job Satisfaction: Women and Minorities in Peril, George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Tett, R. P., and Myer, J. P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: Path analysis based on meta-analytic findings. Pers. Psychol. 46: 259–293.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (2002). Almanac Issue 2002-03, Vol. XLIX, Number 1, Washington, DC.
Vander Putten, J., McLendon, M. K., and Peterson, M. W. (1997). Comparing union and nonunion staff perceptions of the higher education work environment. Res. Higher Educ. 38: 131–147.
Volkwein, J. F. (1999). What is institutional research all about? A critical and comprehensive assessment of the profession. New Directions for Institutional Research No. 104, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Volkwein, J. F., and Malik, S. M. (1997). State regulation and administrative flexibility at public universities. Res. Higher Educ. 38: 17–42.
Volkwein, J. F., Malik, S. M., and Napierski-Prancl, M. (1998). Administrative satisfaction and the regulatory climate at public universities. Res. Higher Educ. 39: 43–63.
Volkwein, J. F., and Parmley, K. (2000). Comparing administrative satisfaction in public and private universities. Res. Higher Educ. 41: 95–116.
Winkler, L. (1982). Job satisfaction of university faculty in the U.S. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Nebraska.
Wolfson, R. (1986). Job satisfaction of industrial arts/technology teacher education faculty in the United States. Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Volkwein, J.F., Zhou, Y. Testing a Model of Administrative Job Satisfaction. Research in Higher Education 44, 149–171 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022099612036
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022099612036